Status conference postponed in Mid-Continent Airport bomb plot case

A federal judge has postponed a status conference in the case against a Wichita avionics technician charged with trying to carry out a suicide bombing at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport in December.

U.S. District Court Judge Monti Belot was set to hear an update in Terry Loewen’s terrorism-related case on Sept. 22 but pushed the date back more than a week to accommodate attorney’s schedules, according to a notation in federal court records.

The conference now will take place at 2 p.m. Oct. 2. Such proceedings are used to keep the court informed on a case’s progress.

Loewen, 59, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempting to use an explosive device to damage property and attempting to give material support to foreign terrorist organization al-Qaida. He was arrested Dec. 13 after he allegedly tried to unlock a security access gate and deliver a van loaded with what he thought were high explosives onto the tarmac at the airport, where he worked.

Authorites have said Loewen spent months devising the plot with undercover FBI agents and planned to die in the attack to achieve martyrdom. He came under scrutiny last summer after making online statements about wanting to commit “violent jihad,” or holy war, against the United States.

Attorneys for Loewen have called the sting operation entrapment and outrageous government conduct. They will likely focus their defense on those assertions at trial.

Loewen remains in custody at Sedgwick County Jail. He is being held without bond, records show.

This story was originally published September 18, 2014 at 8:09 AM with the headline "Status conference postponed in Mid-Continent Airport bomb plot case."